Liberty
by Selcouth and Imagination
Summary: Who said that Jeb's underground settlement was the only one left? Underneath Paris, in the depths of the catacombs, a band of eleven humans survive. Struggling from day to day beneath the city, Evelyn Bellridge fights her past and present to win a better future. A story of drama, adventure and romance. A spin-off from Stephenie Meyer's novel, The Host. M for themes
1. Prologue

Prologue

The man stood on the balcony overlooking the glowing city of Paris. The lights shone in the night, just like his eyes, like the eyes of all the occupants of the Earth. Just like a Soul.  
It had been 4 years since the occupation of Earth had begun, and there was nearly no human activity. Almost none. Most of the Soul's lived peacefully and happily, completely unaware of the humans that lived beneath the city and roamed the streets at night, nights not so very different from this one.

* * *

The two silhouettes darted through the streets of Paris, unseen or unheard by the sleeping occupants of the houses whose walls they hugged. The leader of the pair went by the name of Evelyn Bellridge but her appearance was far from the elegance that her name suggested. She had thick black hair that was tied back in a braid and brown eyes flecked with gold. Olive skin and a shapely body gave her an exotic appearance despite her french heritage. She wore tight jeans and combat boots, the hilt of a knife glimmering from one of her shoes in the moonlight. She wore a dark coloured top while the outfit was completed by a leather jacket with the hood pulled up, covering her face. Underneath the jacket, Evelyn's arms and neck were covered in scars and tattoos, clearly marking her to be human, a dangerous thing in the world that was now occupied by the Souls.

Evelyn's companion, Sonya Kennedy, was more nervous than the determined Evelyn, and glanced behind them every few seconds. Sonya was tall and super-model thin. She was the walking metaphor for beauty with long, light brown hair, sea green eyes and high cheekbones. A flowing skirt covered her long legs and a shawl was wrapped around her tightly, trying to preserve her body heat on the frosty spring night.

It had been two nights since Evelyn and Sonya had left safety, and they had failed in their attempt to steal some supplies for the secret settlement hidden beneath the buildings of Paris. It would be disappointing to return to the band of nine free humans without the necessary supplies, it would be assumed that they had been caught or were dead, so they returned out of need rather than giving up because they didn't find anything.

They quickly made their way down the grass and litter covered slope to the narrow water passage below them, their weariness and failure forgotten as they neared the entrance to their home. The women stopped suddenly and glanced around before slipping into a crack that would not have been seen if you did not know where to look. Sonya physically relaxed as soon as they were in the tunnel, slipping out a small torch and turning it on, giving an astonished gasp when two pairs of blue-grey eyes looked back at them, looking equally surprised.


	2. Found

**A/N: Hi! Sorry it took this long to update, life has been busy.I will be trying to update the story every Sunday. All the characters in this story are original and, while they are based on places that actually exist, the locations in this story are from on my imagination, so any resemblance to real people or places is purely coincidental. Please read and review. All feedback is welcomed.  
Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 1

Found

The knife was whipped out of Evelyn's boot and pressed against the throat of the taller of the two figures standing before them. The person, which they could now see was only a young girl around the age of thirteen, was trembling. The other pair of eyes belonged to another girl, about the age of nine. The two were clearly sisters with the same almond-shaped eyes and tangled black hair and both had identical looks of terror plastered to their faces, but their eyes did not shine. They weren't Souls; they were still human.

Evelyn still wasn't convinced, despite the eyes shining like a human. She pushed the girl's hair back, feeling for a scar at the back if her neck.

Click, click.

Evelyn immediately felt the cool pressure of a gun pushed against her temple and froze.

"Drop the knife." The voice was low, deadly and definitely male.

When Evelyn refused to move, the figure pushed the gun harder against her temple, forcing her to take a step back. The man holding the gun stepped out of the shadows, keeping the gun against Evelyn's temple.

He was tall, around six-foot, with electric blue eyes and dark blond hair, his face was contorted into a snarl.

"Now drop the knife, " he ordered.

Evelyn paused to consider before the knife clattered to the hard floor, echoing loudly in the silent cavern.

With the knife out of Evelyn's reach, the man's shoulders relaxed and he pulled something out of his belt. Evelyn's face was suddenly illuminated under her hood, blinding her. The light bounced from one eye to the other. Believing that she was human, he flicked the light over to the corner, where Sonya was leaning against the wall.

"You're both human." The man murmured to himself, as if he was amazed by the possibility.

He abruptly shoved the gun into his belt and elbowed Evelyn aside, reaching for the two girls who were still shaking. Evelyn scrutinized the trio as the man checked the older girl for injuries.

"Who are you?" Sonya murmured. Even in the state of shock she was in, she still had to sate her curiosity.

The man glanced at us, seeming to suddenly remember us.

"My name's Will. These are my sisters Rose and Katherine." He stood up and looked at the two women closer. "Who are you? How have you survived this long?"  
Evelyn glared at the small family as she struggled to overcome her suspicious instincts.  
"My name's Evie – and you don't call me _anything_ else. This here is Sonya," Evie's words were sharp and short. "And what do mean _how have we survived this long_? Why shouldn't we have survived this long? Is it not possible for you to think that we could have lived this long on our own? Is that thought Incomprehensible?"  
"Jesus," Will was stunned by Evie's outburst. "No it's not that the thought didn't occur to me, it was more along the lines of 'so what's your secret of survival'. But seriously woman, just calm down."  
Evie gave Will her best death stare before turning towards Sonya, who was staring at Will, shamelessly admiring his rugged good looks.

"Go back to the others. Tell them we have found some people. Go straight to Jacqueline this time. Don't blurt it out to whoever you see first, we don't want another mess like last time." Sonya's cheeks brightened as she thought of the 'mess' that Evie referred to, but she nodded and slipped into the maze of tunnels ahead of them.

Evie gazed into the darkness where Sonya had disappeared for a minute before sliding down the wall.  
"You might as well sit down," Evie's mutter shattered the silence. "It's going to be a while till they come."  
Will glanced at his sisters before he too sank to the floor on the opposite side of the cave.  
"Who are _they_?" Will asked inquisitively, his arm draped casually over the older sister's – Rose's – shoulder. "Who else is down here with you two?"  
"There are a few more of us down here. You'll probably get to meet them, if they decide to let you see our hideout." Despite her earlier ferocity, Evie now appeared to be exhausted. She pulled back the hood that still obscured part of her face and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the rough stones behind her. The dim light threw shadows across her face making her seem ancient and slightly demonic, she was so still and quiet that she looked like she had been there for a thousand years.

Katherine's eyes widened as she noticed and then silently pointed out the tattoo the wound itself around Evie's neck. Will shifted his body against the hard wall as he tried to read the words the curled around Evie's collar without success before his eyes lifted to examine Evie's striking appearance more carefully.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Will murmured  
Evie gave the impression that she had not heard the soft question but her lips curled into a small smile that could not be seen in the faint light.

The four people sunk into their own thoughts, the two girls slowly dozed off, curled up in tight balls on either side of their brother, a protective arm resting on each of them.  
The room was still, each person enwrapped in their own thoughts. It could have been hours since Sonya had left, but it felt as if it were timeless. The sound of feet echoed ahead of the owners in the long tunnels and Evie jerked her head in the direction of the sound, standing up and grabbing the knife from the floor as she did, turning to see the two silhouettes approaching them. Will stood up as well, following Evie's lead, dragging his sisters up too after gently shaking them awake.  
All of them where tense, preparing to run at a moments notice but the voice that rang out high and clear was one that Evie recognised.  
"Evelyn Bellridge! You have some explaining to do." The voice boomed through the gloom.


	3. Author's Note

Hi everyone.  
First of all, I just wanted to say how sorry I am to leave it this long to update. I also wanted to say that I would not be posting for a while, as there are a few things that I need to work out in the plot for this story. I will try to get it the next chapters up soon and I am so sorry that you have to wait.

-Selcouth and Imagination


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